Huntly left feeling deflated as Buckie triumph by a head

Sam Robertson headed home the winner as reigning Highland League champions Buckie edged out Huntly 2-1 in a feisty match with both sides finishing with 10 men.

Andrew MacAskill opened the scoring after six minutes for Buckie, who were reduced to 10 men just before the break when Cieran MacLean saw red.

Robertson headed home after 51 minutes to put Buckie in control before Paul Napier reduced the deficit on the hour mark.

Huntly couldn’t force an equaliser, with Reece McKeown sent off six minutes before the end.

Buckie manager Graeme Stewart praised his side for winning the match, despite playing 50 minutes with only ten men.

He said: “That was one of our better performances in the way we battled for the win. We’ve got flair and ability in the final third and I know that guys like Andrew MacAskill will takes chances in front of goal.

“I’d given Sam a bit of stick about not scoring headers and he took it well for the second goal.

“I felt we should’ve scored more as we had chances early on. It was a poor goal we conceded as we’d worked on defending long throws and we switched off at that point.”

Stewart felt MacLean’s red card was harsh and added: “I don’t think it was a red card it should’ve been a yellow. Cieran’s not a dirty player and I thought at the time it was a foul in his favour.”

With six minutes gone, a poor kick out from Huntly goalkeeper John Farquhar went straight to MacAskill and the midfielder capitalised with a low drive from the edge of the box. Buckie were reduced to 10 men five minutes before the break when midfielder Maclean was shown a red card for a challenge on Napier.

Six minutes into the second half, Huntly failed to deal with a free kick allowing Stuart Taylor to gain possession to cross from the right as the on-loan Cove Rangers midfielder Robertson powered in a header.

Huntly pulled a goal back when a long throw from David Donald was laid off by Ross Still for ex-Jags winger Napier to slot home from the edge of the box. Huntly were reduced to 10 men when substitute McKeown was sent off for kicking out at Stuart Taylor.

Huntly manager Charlie Charlesworth was disappointed after a third successive defeat for his side and he added: “It was a good game and in the balance for quite a time but we gave away cheap goals.